Focus on fixing our town water

Dec. 4, 2013, 6 a.m.

The community petition has been handed over and Council has committed to improving our town's water quality

Focus on fixing our town water

Arthur and Dina Dracopoulos took their community petition and water samples to the Bombala Council in November, and feel confident progress will now be made on improving the quality of our town water supply.

READERS will
remember our article from earlier in the year on the local survey being held to
gauge the community’s views on the quality of the Bombala town water supply.

Now the survey is
complete, and it seems that 286 people at least are dissatisfied with the water
that comes from our taps, with the most passionate among them referring to it
as “putrid” and “revolting”.

The survey was
started by Arthur and Dina Dracopoulos of the Cosmo Café in July this year, and
was taken to the November meeting of the Bombala Council.

Dina explains
that while there are still the same ongoing problems with our water’s varying
taste, discolouration and smell, the meeting itself was productive.

“The biggest
thing that we wanted to come from all of this was for Council to acknowledge
that there is a problem with the water supply and to commit to doing something
about rectifying it,” she said.

“I felt that my
presentation to the Council was genuinely accepted, that the problem was
recognised and progress will now be made.”

During the
meeting it was confirmed that sand filters are currently used for the town
water supply, which allows sediment to pass through into the tap water.

While chlorine
ensures that any harmful bacteria is removed and the water is safe to drink, it
does not remove the sediment, which Council acknowledges is at a reasonably
high level.

Council committed
to monitoring the water more closely and trying to make the quality more
consistent by avoiding the chemical imbalance that can cause discolouration and
other problems.

Dina was informed
that the water is regularly tested and has been confirmed as fit for
consumption, although Council indicated that high - but acceptable - levels of
aluminium had also been detected.

The Dracopoulos’s
have requested that these test results be made available to the community.

“Another aim of
this whole process is getting Council to communicate more effectively with the
community and to keep us informed on what is actually happening with the water,”
Dina said.

Ultimately it
seems that Bombala requires a brand new water plant to ensure top water
quality, and Council has indicated that it will work towards this goal in the
next ten years.

In the meantime
the Dracopoulos family intends to keep pushing to ensure that Council follows
through with improving the consistency of our water quality up until that time.

“We respect that
Council has a big job ahead of it and that improving the water will be quite a
process,” Dina said.

“We believe that
the right person is now addressing the issues and ensuring that the correct
procedures are in place to deliver better quality water, while also looking at
further ways of improving it.

“Having said
that, we will continue to push the matter, as no one should have to buy
filters, or buy their water. We deserve to be able to drink the tap water that
we pay tariffs for.”

While the
Dracopoulos family have received plenty of thank yous from locals grateful that
they have taken up this cause, they themselves thank the community for its
support and its input into their original survey.

“We felt we had
to continue with this process as we had gotten such a big response form the
community, and it really made us feel committed to taking action,” Arthur said.

“We consider this a
health issue as much as anything else, and we’re pleased to be helping work
towards a favourable outcome.”